Electrical connectors – Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield – Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-28
2001-09-25
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield
Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
C439S736000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293826
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector with metal members located at lateral sides of a housing of the connector for improving coplanarity of terminals of the connector.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
A conventional connector usually includes a base with a plurality of terminals insert molded on a tongue board, and a pair of insulative sidewalls which project upwardly from lateral sides of the base and are parallel to the tongue board. The base is insert molded with the terminals, and then the sidewalls are insert molded to the base. This two-step insert molding procedure is unduly time-consuming and costly. Moreover, the plastic sidewalls acquire stresses during the second insert molding step. When the terminals are subsequently soldered to a printed circuit board, the sidewalls longitudinally deform to dissipate the stresses. Coplanarity of the terminals is degraded, and thus the quality of soldering is reduced.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with a pair of metallic walls for insuring coplanarity of terminals of the connector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which is quickly and cost-efficiently manufactured.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes a dielectric housing, a plurality of terminals retained in the housing, and a pair of metal members secured to the housing. Each metal member has a metal wall secured in the base and a metal soldering pads extending from the metal wall for soldering to a printed circuit board.
The housing includes a base, a mating board projecting upwardly from the base for engaging with a complementary connector, and a pair of sidewalls adjoining the base. A plurality of ribs extends from each lateral side of the base to the corresponding sidewall through a plurality of slits defined in each metal wall. Only one insert molding process is required to manufacture the connector. During the high-temperature process of soldering the soldering pads of the connector to the printed circuit board, the metal members support any melting plastic. Longitudinal distortion of the base and the sidewalls is thereby minimized. Accordingly, coplanarity of the terminals and quality of soldering is maximized.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5055069 (1991-10-01), Townsend et al.
patent: 5478259 (1995-12-01), Noschese
patent: 5562499 (1996-10-01), Minich
patent: 6155886 (2000-12-01), Koseki et al.
patent: 6186807 (2001-02-01), Simmel
Chen Qiang
Shi Guang-Xing
Chung Wei Te
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Prasad Chandrika
Sircus Brian
LandOfFree
Electrical connector with metal side members and method of... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electrical connector with metal side members and method of..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical connector with metal side members and method of... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2458488